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Bird

Indigo Bunting

Passerina cyanea

A summer resident that nests in Arkansas. Found in all 75 counties, across 10 habitats.

Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
10

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
10
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Arkansas 10

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 10

Swamps

The Land of Evangeline
SummerLower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest ModifierJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874), a neighboring state.The Land of Evangeline, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerOzark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Mississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; Ozark-Ouachita Riparian

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerOzark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

SummerArkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland; West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie; West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerWinterDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation
Other habitats in its models (70)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (27)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Summer.
  • Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
  • Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
  • Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer.
  • South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
  • South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer.
  • Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
  • Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
  • Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Northeast (3)
  • Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (40)
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
  • Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
  • Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
  • Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
  • Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Winter.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
  • Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter.
  • Recently Burned Summer and winter.
  • Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
  • Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
  • Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer.
  • Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Arkansas

  • Summer: nests here, in all 75 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 10

Plant genera in its diet records (2)
  • Rubus 1 diet record. 9 native plants in Arkansas
  • Sambucus 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Arkansas

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Indigo Bunting uses many habitats in Arkansas; these are its 3 most characteristic.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 98

Plants 313

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Arkansas

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 101

Plants 888

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Arkansas

Forest edges and thickets

Birds 57

Plants 142

All of forest edges and thickets in Arkansas

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources